Living in the city of Angels

Bangkok Travel Blog

Bangkok, or in Thai "Krungthep" which translates into "The City of Angels", is a city like no other! I mean, where else can you see elephants walking down the street in a city nearly the size of New York? Come on!

First of all, the real name of Bangkok isn't even 'Bangkok', it is actually the longest name in the world.

Anyway, I called it home for 2 1/2 years from October 2005 to April 2008.

Lightning dances across the sky!

Living in Bangkok is much different than vacationing in Bangkok, although some people have managed to pull off living a permanent vacation there somehow, living a lifestyle that of an 18 year old without a care in the world.

Yes, alot of foreigners do live in Bangkok for all the wrong reaons.

It has become a place of refugee for alot of the outcasts of other societies and quite frequently you see stories on the news that give us foreigners a bad name in Thailand unfortunately.

My time in Bangkok was enjoyable, but at a certain point, it was enough.

The 60th anniversary of King Rama IV on the throne was a three day celebration which sent the country into a frenzy for over a year. Literally.

Long live the King.

Every major king and royal family in the world was there to attend the celebration. The craziest thing was, for three days, everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE wore a yellow shirt in His magesty's honor. This not only lasted for the three days, but for an entire year! Now that's some loyalty.

I was also there when the military staged a coup on then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra when he was out of the country attending a conference at the UN in New York city. I was home alone that evening and saw Breaking News running along the bottom of BBC saying "Tanks in the streets of Bangkok!" I soon found out from others what was going on.

Now, how to you prepare for a military coup? Really. This isn't something I learned at school. I mean we did tornado drills and fire drills, but what do you do during a miltary coup in a developing country? Needless to say, we didn't have any work for a few days.

Where else can you see a building shaped like an elephant?

Luckily, it wasn't violent and the soldiers in the streets were very friendly with their machine guns slung around their shoulders. In fact, many people praised them and had their pictures taken with them and on the tanks. It was like a circus for the first full days. My friend and I thought of having a "Barbe=coup". Get it????

So after a year, a new Prime Minister was in place and as well, the long awaited new Suvarnabhumi International Airport was opened on September 29th, 2006. It is a very futuristic looking airport, boasting the longest terminal in the world and the highest control tower. However, they reached their capacity within months and re-opened the old airport, Don Muang, for domestic travel.

Living was good in Bangkok. You don't have to earn a fortune to live well. Rooftop pools on the condo were always nice for poolside beers (Tom!) as well as being able to hop in a cab anywhere and go anywhere for a few bucks.

Rooftop pool!

Renting out the Hard Rock cafe for company parties and partying it up at the Conrad hotel always makes for a good time as well.

On the weekends, I liked to find some refugee from the pollution and get around some greenery, so I usually hit up Suan Rot Fai park, which means "Train park" because there's some old left there, but actually, the park used to be a golf course, so it is acres upon acres of greenergy, lakes and TONS of things to any day of the week. I think it is the best kept secret in Bangkok! It is located behind Chatujak Park, which is well known right off the Morchit BTS station and next to the world famous Chatujak Market. But, if you got to the market and want to escape the crowd, get over to Suan Rot Fai park, also connected to it is Queen Sirikit park, which is a gorgeous park of trees, flowers, and a water show like the one at the Belagio in Las Vegas only slightly smaller.

The local market. (Ladprao Soi 1)

Bangkok is not short of street vendors and roadside markets. THEY'RE EVERY WHERE! This can be good and bad.

The good, lots of interesting things to see everyday. Cheap, good food eating outside. Love it!

The bad; crowds, smells, and trash. But all in all, a must experience for any traveller!

I made MANY wonderful, lifelong friends during my time in Thailand and I have so many stories and pictures to share, so with that, I will live it there for now.

Please feel free to contact me here for any advice if you are travelling to Bangkok or Thailand in general.